A group opposed to Canterbury Cricket's plan to develop Hagley Oval will set up a war chest so that it can fight the proposal through the courts.

The Save Hagley Park group will hold a public meeting tomorrow night to discuss its concerns over the proposed development and how to raise funds to finance a legal challenge.

"This will not be inexpensive, but if we believe that allowing an international cricket ground is a bad decision and sets a very bad precedent for the future of Hagley Park, then we have no choice but to try to stop this from going ahead," group spokesman Martin Meehan said.

The Christchurch City Council gave notice of Canterbury Cricket's resource consent application to develop the oval on December 15 and has given the public until 5pm on February 4 to lodge submissions.

Once submissions have closed, a date will be set for an Environment Court hearing to consider the application.

It is unusual for a consent application to go directly to the court, but the council has decided to bypass the normal decision-making process because of the controversy over the proposed development and the likelihood that any decision it made would be appealed to the court.

The Save Hagley Park group wants to be a party to the proceedings in the Environment Court and needs money for legal representation and for any experts it wants to engage in support of its case. How much money it will need is unclear, but Environment Court cases typically cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Meehan said some fundraising ideas had been put forward by supporters, and they would be discussed at tomorrow night's meeting.

Help would also be available at the meeting for those yet to complete their submission forms.